The German Emperor as Shown in His Public Utterances

Monument to General von Rosenberg

April 20, 1902

A monument was erected to the famous cavalry general Von Rosenberg, in Hanover. After the unveiling of the monument the Emperor responded to Count von Waldersee’s toast as follows:

To-day I greet all the cavalry of the German army. Even from his grave the general’s personality has issued so magic and so powerful an appeal that it has called the horsemen together from all quarters of the German Empire and from the contingents of my affiliated rulers, so that to-day for the first time our German cavalry is gathered together in a single great cohort.

We wish to draw a lesson from this day. As the general recognized only his service and the call of duty, may we do likewise! The highest reward that can come to an officer through his service in life is to fill his position to his own complete satisfaction. Looking back over the life of General von Rosenberg, we can compose a proverb which should apply to us also, now and for all time: “Know your aim, and then exert every effort.” Let that be the standard for our cavalry!

So may we also create for ourselves from this simple monument a symbol and an example. A block of granite from the mark bears the features of the general inlaid in bronze; so may we hedge and protect that piece of granite of our army which we call the cavalry and allow it to harden, so that he who bites upon it may lose his teeth!37

With this wish I raise my glass and drink to the memory of the general, to the German cavalry, and to its most conspicuous representative, the General Field-Marshal, Count von Waldersee. Hurrah!

Notes

37 A phrase of Frederick the Great which Count Bülow had used in the Reichstag January 8, 1902, in speaking of the English Colonial Secretary Chamberlain’s attack on the German army.